halcyon days
by tanabatadreams
Summary: The sea rages as it yearns for its lover, but for one fortnight each year, it's perfectly still. [SasuSaku, Mythical!AU]
**Note: Unedited. Will revise in the morning.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I sat on the warm, white sand and watched my mother and father embrace moments before my father was to embark on a sea voyage. She softly kissed his cheek and he offered her a reassuring smile as he stalked off to the dock, where countless men worked on countless ships, inspecting every nook and crevice to ensure that the vessel was ready for the sea.

My mother joined the rest of the women as they all waved their hands in goodbyes and shouted good wishes. It was only an empty ritual though, everyone knew that for fourteen days around the winter solstice the sea was absolutely calm and still. Only a gentle sea breeze raced across the waters, filling the sails of the ships and spraying droplets water into the air where they caught the rays of the sun and exploded into iridescent colors.

A legend dictated that any man who set sail between the seven days before the winter solstice and the seven days after that followed it would find his way back to his lover's arms unharmed, which is why my people chose this day to embark on a voyage.

But it's not like they could have chosen any other day. For these fourteen days the sea is calm, but for the rest of the year, it rages. Mother says the sea is clawing at the land in longing, because something it loves lives here. Tide after tide attack the shore with such ferocity that it is impossible to dwell anywhere near the sea.

Which is why my tribe lives in the very heart of wave country, far away from the enraged sea, and only travel down here once a year. The beach is barren and soulless, save for the one house over the cliff.

My eyes trail away from the departing seamen and glance over to my left, where the old man who lives in the cliff abode is resting on a boulder, something close to relief reflected on his face.

I wonder, though, what he's relieved about. He's been living in that hut for more years than I've been born, but somehow the waves never seem to touch his little home.

I've seen him walking along the beach before, with an uchiwa fan sown onto the back of his Yukata. I recognize it, it's the emblem of the Uchiha tribe, the fire wielders from the land of leaves, so why did this old man reside in wave country?

I see grandma Ino slowly walking towards me, and I make up my mind to ask her about the mysterious old man. She seems about as old as he does, perhaps she has some answers.

It takes another few moments for her old, frail knees to carry her to the spot where I was sitting, and as soon as she reaches she settles down at a spot behind me and weaves her fingers through my hair.

I'd inherited her long, pale blonde hair and she loved to weave it into elaborate braids, while I enjoyed the welcome pressure of her fingertips on my scalp. It was how we'd bond. She set to work, parting and twisting my hair, and I finally asked her the question that had been ricocheting in my head for ages.

"Ino Baa-chan," I say, "Who is that man sitting on the rocks over there? The one who lives by the sea?"

Even though I cannot see her face, I know she is smiling and I can hear it in her voice when she speaks.

"Mira, did you know, there was once a time that the sea was calm and quiet all year round?"

I'm a little annoyed, because she doesn't answer my question, but her words have piqued my curiosity. "Really Baa-chan? _This_ fearsome sea?" I ask.

"Aa," she says, and I can tell she is still smiling "This very sea."

"What changed, then?"

As soon as I said those words, her hands became still, and I knew I was about to hear her narrate a story. I did not mind though, Ino baa-chan told the best stories, so I removed my legs from underneath me, turned to face her, and sat down in a more comfortable cross legged position.

She inhaled deeply, and with a faraway look in her eyes, she began...

x

A young woman sits on the rocks by the sea, looking out at the endless expanse of water before her. Her long coral hair cascades down her shoulder in soft waves as she rests her head in the palm of her hand and smiles softly.

The trance she is lost in is interrupted when she hears a distressed mewling in the distance. White dress flowing in the wind, she gets up and breaks into a run towards the sound, coming to halt when she sees a dolphin beached on the shore and a man hovering over it it.

She opens her mouth to yell at him, and ask him to stop what he was doing, before promptly shutting it close when she realizes that he's trying to drag the fish back into the water, not to the land.

Quickly, she rushes over to him, and they both heave and grunt as they try to push the beast back into the sea. The man's eyes widen in surprise when the tide reaches in farther into the shore and takes the dolphin with it as it returns to the sea.

He watches as the dolphin wades through the shallow water until it finally reaches the deep, and then swims away in search of its pod. He turns around with the intention to thank the woman for her help, but his breath gets caught in his throat when he finally glances at her beauty.

" _Thank you for saving the animal_. _What's your name?_ " she says, smiling sweetly, but it takes him a long minute to grasp what she is spoken because he is stunned by the changing colors of her eyes, every single one of them a different shade of sea green. When his senses return to him, he answers, " _Aa. Something that belongs to the sea must return to the sea. I could not watch it suffer._ " he pauses, " _My name is Sasuke_."

Her smile widens a little and she moves closer to him. Standing on her toes, she presses her lips to his in a soft, chaste kiss and his eyes fall close at the delightful pressure. When he opens them again, she is gone, and there's only the taste of salt on his lips.

.

.

The man with the dark hair and darker eyes returns to the same spot the next day, a little while before the sun immerses itself into the sea, and waits in hopes of seeing the roseate woman from yesterday.

He waits and waits until the sea swallows the sun and the sky turns a rich black, punctuated with stars glowing dimmer than the green eyes of the mysterious woman. He has almost abandoned the last straw of hope and is about to return to his lodgings, when the sea on the far end of the beach swirls into a tiny whirlpool and out emerges the woman from yesterday.

He watches in awe as the water parts and makes way for her to come to the shore, and before he can ever recall commanding them to move, his feet are shuffling to the woman who was born from the sea.

He approaches her, and if she's noticed his presence, she doesn't acknowledge a few feet away, he wonders what to say to her.

" _Hello._ " he begins and she ceases to untangle seaweed from her hair and turns to him with wide green eyes.

" _Y-you can see me?_ " she says, sounding surprised.

Frowning, he counters. " _Should I not be able to?_ "

She laughs a little, and his heart beats aflutter at the sound. " _Most people can't. I can only be seen by those who are looking for me._ " she says, looking into his eyes.

His frown only deepens, and she looks like she understands the questions swimming through his mind. Grabbing hold of his left hand, she brings it to her chest. His eyes widen when instead of a heartbeat, he can feel the vibrations of waves thundering within her rib cage.

" _I am a sea goddess._ " she says with a smile.

.

.

The goddess and the man spend the rest of the night talking away as the goddess explains to him how she is the daughter of the ruler of the seas, the Goddess Tsunade, and how her and each of her six sisters rule a portion of the sea.

They talk until the sky is streaked red and the goddess tells him she must return to the sea. Standing up, she turns to him and says " _Goodbye, Sasuke. I really did enjoy our time together, I hope we can do this again_." Turning around, she begins walking back into the sea.

" _Wait_ ," his voice calls her, " _At least tell me your name_." she stops in her stride and turns to look at him.

" _For when we meet again_." he adds.

Her eyes twinkle as she answers. " _Sakura_."

.

.

They begin to meet often after that night. They'd lie on the soft sand and talk under the cover of the stars as the sea goddess played a beautiful symphony with the sound of the waves.

More often than not, it would be her who did all the talking. She would tell him about life underwater, the conflicts among the gods, stories from the wars she had witnessed in her centuries of existence. But every now and then, he'd share pieces of his life with her too and she would greedily absorb every piece of information he would impart.

He told her about his hometown in the land of leaves and how he was living with his brother's friend in wave country to help him build a bridge, he told her about his childhood, his family, he speaks with a passion about the fire she had been afraid of all her life, and about the flowers she was named after.

He was surprised to learn that despite being named Sakura, she had never actually seen cherry blossoms in bloom. " _I can't stray too far from the sea_." she told him, " _but I hope to see them someday._ "

He nods.

A few weeks later, the bridge is built and his work in wave country is done. On his last night in wave country, as they sit on the beach, they don't speak a word. Somewhere in the middle of the night, he takes his hand in hers and they sit there watching the waves roll in.

When the sun begins to return to its place in the sky, she finally turns to him and speaks. " _I'm afraid I might be in love with you._ "

For a very long time he is silent, and she feels her heart sink like a stone in the water. Just before he gets up to leave, he tightly squeezes her small hand.

" _Do not be afraid, for I think I might be in love with you too_."

.

.

That night is not the last they see of each other. At every chance he got, the fire heir would run to wave country to spend a few days wrapped in the arms of the sea goddess.

In the spring he brought her a book filled with the stories of the land, and a single cherry blossom flower pressed in between.

In his absence, the goddess shares her loneliness with the god of the wind, Naruto-kami. Legend says that the ruler of the skies was also once in love with a mortal, blind woman, and so could sympathize with her pain.

He could never marry her because of the wrath it would incur from heaven, so he loved her in secret. He fathered a child with the marble eyed woman, and the child was born with the same white eyes as his mother but with vision that surpassed any mortal. His unique vision was carried on by his progeny and gave rise to the famed Hyugga clan.

After the woman succumbed to mortality, the wind god never wed in all the centuries that followed.

.

.

The sea goddess and her lover steal many nights and days together, basking in each other's love, but a storm began to brew in the sea.

The eldest sister of the goddess learns about her affair with the mortal and is enraged. Unable to stand the unnatural connection of a mortal and an immortal, she informs the heavens of her sister's misdeeds.

The gods quickly organize a summit to tackle the coral haired goddesses misdemeanor.

" _What you are doing is unacceptable_!" the ruler of heaven tells her, " _It simply cannot be_!"

But the goddess stands defiant. " _I love him_ " she says, " _and that will not change._ "

 _"A mortal and an immortal are not destined to be together, such is the law of the universe._ " he insists and the goddess watches the wind god standing behind the council of gods wince as if in pain.

She can see the pain that reflects in his cerulean blue eyes and she knows it's not a pain she would be able to bear.

" _Then, gods, I give up my immortality._ " she declares.

Gasps echo all across the room as the gods break into hushed whispers.

" _Tsunade! Do you hear your daughter? Will you allow this?_ " the ruler of heaven barks at the queen of the sea.

The mighty sea goddess stares into her daughter's defiant eyes for a long time, and then says with a small sigh. " _All I want is my daughter's happiness, and if she has found it in a mortal then so be it._ "

Sakura looks at her mother's eyes and hopes the unshed tears in her eyes will convey her apology as Tsunade leaves her throne and chants a spell. The next instant there is a blinding pain wracking every inch of the younger goddess's body as she feels her soul being incinerated and remodeled again. Through the pain she opens her eyes and glances at Naruto, she looks at the pride his eyes and she knows she had made the right choice.

Sometime after the spell was cast, she lost consciousness. When she awakened, she was at the beach where she met her lover.

She extends her hand to the sea, and it does not respond.

.

.

She spends the next week waiting for her lover to return. An old widow grants her shelter, and Sakura visits the beach every night anticipating Sasuke's return.

The night they are united, she quickly runs into his arms and buries her face in his sturdy chest.

" _Sakura? What's wrong?_ " he asks, his voice laced with worry.

Breathless, she tells him about all the things that had conspired down to the ultimatum that heaven presented her with. His eyes widen and he holds his breath as he waits to hear her choice. Wordlessly, she takes his palm and presses it to her chest, just like she did when they met for the second time.

He hears her heart thrumming beneath his touch.

.

.

He sends a messenger back to his hometown to convey he would be late in returning this time and spends the next few weeks by his lover's side.

They stayed at a local inn and every morning he would disappear, and return to her at night tired and weary. She questioned where he would go, but he only asked her to be patient. At the end of three weeks, he took her back to the beach and shower her a small wooden house near the edge of the cliff, overlooking the water.

" _I built this_. For us." he said.

With tears streaking her face she wraps her arms around him and mouths a question into his chest. " _How can we stay here? Your life is in the land of leaves._ "

"My life," he holds her equally tightly, " _is where you are. And your life is where the sea is._ "

Sobs wrack her body as she shakes in his embrace.

" _I don't know how to repay you."_

 _"Marry me."_

 _._

 _._

They decide on a spring wedding. Two weeks before their wedding, he tells her he must visit home one last time to inform his family and to take care of some business.

He returns to wave country two days before the wedding. It's a simple, short ceremony and that night when they retire to their house by the sea, he gives her a hollow quartz necklace with a liquid inside.

" _It's the essence of cherry blossoms. You will always smell like them_." he tells her.

Smiling a brilliant, blinding smile, she lets him clasp the necklace around her neck.

.

.

Peace reigns over the couple as they share three years of marital bliss, their love for each other only growing with each day that passed.

But things took a turn for the worse when Sasuke returned home one day clutching a piece of paper in his hand and something akin to desperation swimming in his eyes.

 _"What is it? What's wrong, Sasuke?_ " Sakura is immediately filled with worry.

" _It's a letter from home_." He explains " _My brother is missing. He went to the Ame islands, but he hasn't returned. I must go find him._ "

As soon as he finishes his revelation Sakura shakes her head violently. " _No, no, no, no_." she chants. " _You can't go to Ame. My sister rules those seas, Sasuke, she's violent and she hates me. You won't make it back alive."_

But even as she says those words, she knows they will have no effect. Sasuke's love for his brother was as boundless as her sister's hate for her. He would stop at nothing to save him, she knows, so she asks for something different.

" _Take me with you. Please. You cannot leave me here._ " she begs.

" _No, Sakura. I won't put you in any needless danger. I will go alone_." his answers decisively.

She cries and begs and pleads, but the fire wielder is resolute. For the first time in all the time she had known him, when he held her close to stop her tears, she found no comfort in his arms.

.

.

Sasuke's ship sets sail three days from that day, and until that time they spend every waking moment wrapped up in each other.

When the day finally arrives, she kisses him softly on his lips, wishes him well, and folds her hands to utters the same prayer to the sea that people used to recite to _her_ years ago.

.

.

The sailing is smooth for most part of the journey, and he thinks perhaps he'll actually make it back to the arms of his beautiful wife, but things begin to turn sinister as the ship approaches the territory of the Sea Goddess's eldest daughter.

Large waves slam against the hull of the ship, and the waters around it begin to swirl, first lazily, then with rigor, trapping the vessel in a massive whirlpool. All men aboard the ship cling to its sides, holding on for dear life as it sways violently, mouthing prayers to the sea goddess. But there is only one name on Sasuke's lips.

" _Sakura..._ "

A mammoth wave slams into the side of the ship, destroying its left completely, tossing the men aboard into the waiting waters. They collide with each other and debris from the ship as the whirlpool twirls them around violently.

There's a loud roar of gushing blood in Sasuke's ears and a fire growing in his lungs as he tries to keep his head above the water. There's a sting of salt along his left thigh and he thinks there's a deep gash there left by one of the ship's sphincters, but the pain fades to into insignificance as he imagines his wife standing on the shores, awaiting his return.

He fights with renewed vigor, but in his heart he knows this is the end. He nears the center of the whirlpool and immediately feels a strong tug trying to pull him under. Expending every last ounce of energy he fights the suction, but he's only one man against a mighty sea and the water overwhelms him, engulfing him completely.

Immediately, the waters on the surface lapse back into stillness. But the fire in his lungs has spread to every single cell in his body and Sasuke knows he will not see the shore again.

Sinking slowly, he closes his eyes and says a prayer to the queen of the sea.

 _"Let my body wash to shore. Let my wife not wait an eternity in vain..."_

In the heavens, Tsunade let a solitary tear glide down the curve of her cheeks as she willed the currents to carry the body of the man who loved her daughter back to her footsteps.

.

.

Sakura is in restless slumber when her eyes shoot open. The moon is high in the sky, the tide is high, and her heart is beating wildly in her chest like a panicked animal in a cage. Her breath comes out in rapid succession and she knows, she just _knows_ something has gone terribly wrong.

In the middle of the night, she runs down the rocky path to the beach, unmindful of the cold wind flapping her hair and nightdress around. She runs and runs and runs without pausing to breathe and only slows down when she sees the outline of a body near the water.

" _No. Oh gods, NO_!" she says as she picks up pace again.

Her knees fold underneath her as she lowers herself near the limp body. Stretching her hand, she turns his face towards her, and all the tears that had been gathering in her eyes since she awakened trickled down like waterfalls as her eyes recognized the face she woke up next to for years.

Holding his face to her chest, a broken cry erupts from her throat.

.

.

The first rays of the sun found Sakura still on the beach, clutching the body of her beloved, chanting his name like a mantra.

Her voice begins to crack and her face becomes stiff from dried up tears. She looks to the skies and screams,

" _Please, give Sasuke back to me. I beg thee!_ "

But Sakura too was once an immortal, and she knows that the price of life can only be paid in kind. Wiping the remains of the tears on her cheeks, she stands up.

' _Return life to my husband, and I shall sacrifice myself to the sea I was born from.'_ she says, determination ringing in her voice.

She glances at the lifeless form of her lover at her feet and she wants to bend down and kiss him but she knows that the taste of his lips would shatter her resolve, so with one final look, she takes a step towards the sea.

Placing on foot after the other she lets the familiar waters pull her in, and when the water is almost to her neck, she turns to see her husband beginning to stir at the shore.

Smiling sadly, she sends an apology his way, and lowers her head into the sea.

x

Ino Baa-chan becomes quiet for a long time and we sit there and share silence as I mull over the story she narrated.

She breaks my train of thought when she speaks again, "Since that day, the tides became fierce, pounding onto the shore as though the water goddesses spirit was trying to return to her lover."

She paused before continuing.

"The heavens were awed to witness a love so pure that in his last moments, the man only thought of his wife, and his beautiful lover who loved him enough to make the ultimate sacrifice. To honor their love, the rest of the gods allowed Naruto-kami to turn the spirit of the sea goddess into a sea breeze so she could return to the land and reunite with her lover for one fortnight each year.

And that's why, young Mira, for the entire year the sea aches to be with her beloved, but during the fourteen days in which they are untied, the sea is calm."

I look out to the sea which is completely still under the sun, feel the light ocean breeze running through my hair and let her words sink in before I comment-

"That's a really good story, Ino Baa-chan. one of your best."

She breaks into a wide smile when she hears my words.

"Oh no, my child. It's not a story, it's very much real." she says.

I look away from the sea and turn my attention back to her as I laugh. "What do you mean it's real Baa-chan? It's only a legend." I say, waving my hand in disbelief.

"It most certainly is not." she bends closer to me and speaks into my ear, "Tell me Mira, what do you smell in the air?"

I'm a little surprised by her question but I humor her anyway and breathe in deeply. "Cherry Blossoms." I say.

As soon as the words leave my mouth, my eyes widen. There are no cherry blossoms in wave country.

My head reels as I recall the details of the story baa-chan told me and suddenly realization strikes. Getting up so fast that my head spun, I looked at the old man who lived on the cliff sitting on the rocks near the sea and sure enough, I saw it-

hidden in broad daylight, visible only to those who were looking for her, a woman with long pink hair pressed snugly into his side, her contended smile mirroring the one he wore on his lips.

* * *

 **A/N: just a little something inspired by the myth of the halcyon days with a dash of little mermaid in it too. Whaddaya think?**

 **Sorry for not being as active as I used to be. I'm struggling with some issues and life is...hard. Really, really hard. Hopefully I'll find my groove back soon. Till then, show some love in the reviews?**


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